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With the decline of the manufacturing industry, how can industrial tourism in Japan take over and develop?

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2025-01-14

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Author  |  Hu Gaolais
Editor-in-chief | Yang Ming
Editor | Liu Kaiye
Source | Measuring the City

As China transforms from a "manufacturing giant" to a "manufacturing powerhouse," against the backdrop of economic diversification and consumption upgrades, industrial tourism, as an emerging tourism model, is gradually emerging and becoming a new blue ocean for tourism development. It not only provides tourists with a brand-new tourism experience, but also plays an important role in promoting the deep integration of industry and tourism and promoting the transformation and upgrading of the economic structure.



In recent years, the government has paid close attention to industrial tourism and introduced a series of supporting policies. In 2021, eight ministries and commissions, including the National Development and Reform Commission, jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Development of Industrial Culture (2021-2025)", which clearly proposes to elevate industrial tourism to the national strategic level, encouraging various regions to utilize local industrial resources to promote the construction and promotion of industrial tourism projects.


More and more factories are beginning to value tourism.


In 2022, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, in conjunction with several other departments, jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Supporting and Promoting the Development of Shanghai Industrial Tourism," aiming to polish Shanghai's new brand of quality tourism and vigorously promote the high-quality development of Shanghai's industrial tourism to meet the more comprehensive and diverse industrial tourism needs of tourists and industrial enterprises.

In 2024, Shandong Province proposed to write "five articles" on industrial tourism, namely planning, protection, products, routes, and services, implementing a high-quality protection and utilization project for industrial heritage, promoting the deep integration of tourism and industry, creating an international industrial tourism base, and building a preferred destination for industrial tourism nationwide.

Driven by these policies, industrial tourism has not only become a new window for showcasing corporate culture and technological strength, but also an effective means of promoting local economic development and optimizing industrial structure.

From traditional steel and automobile manufacturing to emerging high-tech industries such as electronics and information technology and biomedicine, more and more enterprises are exploring the combination of their own production processes with tourism experiences to create unique industrial tourism attractions. For example, Baosteel Group's steel culture park and Haier's smart factory experience center have attracted a large number of tourists to visit and experience.


Shougang Park's Focus on Culture and Tourism


Globally, industrial tourism has played an important role in the transformation of many countries from manufacturing to service industries. Among them, Japan is noteworthy. Japan's industrial tourism is an important part of its industrial sightseeing business, accelerating after the proposal of the "Tourism Nation Strategy" in 2003.

Although industrial tourism in developed countries in Europe and America started earlier, such as France's exploration of Citroën's industrial tourism in the 1950s, Japan, in just over a decade, has rapidly risen to become a leader in the global industrial tourism field, thanks to its unique strategies, especially the construction of a complete industrial tourism system.


Industrial tourism conducted by Japanese manufacturing companies (Source: JNTO)


The Rise of Japanese Industrial Tourism


In the 1980s, Japanese manufacturing was at its peak, dominating the global market in areas such as automobiles, home appliances, and electronics. "Made in Japan" became synonymous with high quality.

At the same time, the US industrial sector faced competitive pressure from Japanese manufacturing, leading to increased trade friction and rising resentment. The US media continuously exerted pressure on Japan through public opinion to hinder its further development.


Since the 1970s, Japanese-made electronic products have become popular worldwide (Source: Open Network Platform)


This was followed by the familiar bursting of the Japanese asset bubble, entering the "Lost Two Decades." At the same time, many Japanese manufacturing companies entered a period of decline, with a large number of companies such as Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and NEC falling from grace and suffering huge losses.

These manufacturing companies explored transformation and upgrading on the one hand, and the integration of secondary and tertiary industries on the other, to adapt to the economic transformation of society. Industrial tourism began to take off during this period.




By 2006, there were 964 factories, research institutes, etc., in Japan that offered sightseeing and learning experiences, with an estimated 30 million annual visits, representing a considerable economic scale. Taking the food industry as an example, all of the top 20 food companies nationwide have opened their factories or museums to visitors.

"Industrial sightseeing refers to tourism activities that use industrial cultural heritage, production sites, and industries and products with historical and cultural value as tourism resources, allowing people to experience the spirit of production and promoting interpersonal exchange."
— Japan National Industrial Sightseeing Forum


1. The Foundation and Development Stages of Japanese Industrial Tourism

An industrial foundation is a prerequisite for the rise of Japanese industrial tourism.

According to its development history, Japanese industry can be divided into three stages: traditional handicrafts, modern machine industry, and modern industry:

Traditional handicrafts: As early as the Nara period (710-794 AD), Japan introduced advanced agricultural technology from China, which promoted the development of handicrafts such as textiles, sword forging, and pottery, gradually forming a technical system based on ancient artisan craftsmanship.

Even with the rise of modern machine industry, Japan still attached great importance to traditional handicrafts, regarding traditional crafts as an important foundation for future survival and development. Many traditional crafts have evolved into "unique skills" through long-term inheritance, possessing rich cultural value, which constitutes the background color of Japan's "craftsman spirit."

In 1974, Japan enacted the "Traditional Craft Industry Promotion Act," establishing a national certification system for traditional crafts, etc.


Unique skills, forming the background color of Japan's craftsman spirit


Modern large-scale industry: Japan introduced Western modern industrial technology, transforming from handicraft workshop production to open-style production in the machine industry, catching the train of modern capitalist economic development and forming an industrial technology system based on science. Many industrial sites have been preserved to this day. In 2015, Japan nominated 23 industrial facilities as a World Heritage site under the name "Industrial Heritage of Meiji Japan: Iron, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining."

Modern industry: From the 1950s, Japan used manufacturing as the starting point for revitalizing the national economy. By the 1960s and 1970s, "Made in Japan" entered its golden age. Especially with the popularity of Japanese animation, a "factory moe" culture integrating elements of industrial manufacturing was formed, spreading widely among young people.

Seven cities—Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Muroran City, Hokkaido; Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture; Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture; Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture; Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture; and Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture—were selected by "factory moe" enthusiasts as the best cities to experience factory moe spots.


Kitakyushu is one of the best cities to experience the charm of factories.


2. Development of the Tourism Industry in the 21st Century

After entering the 21st century, in order to solve the problems of slow economic growth and a series of social issues that arose in postmodern society, the Japanese government first proposed the "Tourism Nation Strategy" in 2003, placing a high degree of importance on the development of tourism.

In 2006, Japan passed the Basic Act for Promoting a Tourism Nation, and the Japanese government established the "Industrial Tourism Promotion Conference," issuing a series of documents and policy measures. This gave the manufacturing industry a positive impetus to develop tourism and promote diversified development.

By 2012, among foreign tourists visiting Japan, 38% had factory visit experiences, with the highest proportion among European and American tourists, with 86% and 70% of European and North American tourists experiencing factory visits in Japan.


Factory visits have attracted a large number of overseas tourists.


The Construction of Japan's Industrial Tourism System


In Japan, industrial tourism is not only a new engine for economic development but also an important vehicle for culture and education. In order to build a healthy and developing industrial tourism system, Japan has adopted a number of measures at the macro level, forming a multi-layered, multi-dimensional support network. This system is mainly composed of the following aspects:

1. Tourism Nation Strategy as the Foundation

In 2003, the Japanese government proposed the "Tourism Nation" strategy, aiming to attract domestic and foreign tourists by developing the country's rich tourism resources, making the tourism industry an important pillar of the national economy. The core of this strategy is a virtuous cycle of culture-economy-tourism, that is, to promote economic development through the development of cultural resources, thereby promoting the prosperity of the tourism industry.

Based on this framework, Japan has comprehensively sorted and upgraded industrial resources nationwide, identifying four driving forces for the tourism system—cultural power, interest power, empathy power, and service power. These driving forces not only meet the diverse needs of tourists but also provide a solid foundation for the development of industrial tourism.


Tourism Nation Strategy, promoting a virtuous cycle between culture-economy-tourism


2. Creating Themed Zones According to Local Conditions

Various regions in Japan have formed non-overlapping industrial tourism themed areas based on their own industrial characteristics. This differentiated development strategy allows each region to find its own position in the field of industrial tourism, avoiding homogenized competition. For example—

Aichi Prefecture: A car manufacturing tour represented by Toyota Motor Corporation, showcasing the advanced technology and corporate culture of Japan's automobile industry.

Ishikawa Prefecture: Echizen industrial products theme, where tourists can visit the production processes of traditional handicrafts such as Echizen lacquerware, Echizen Japanese paper, Echizen tableware, Echizen drawers, and Echizen pottery.


Ishikawa Prefecture's Echizen Industrial Products Theme


Gifu Prefecture: One of the world's three major tableware production areas, where tourists can visit various cutlery forging workshops in Seki City and experience the charm of traditional crafts.

Tokushima Prefecture: Awa craft theme, including Awa Japanese paper crafts, Awa dyeing, Awa printing and weaving, and Awa indigo dyeing, showcasing the superb craftsmanship of traditional Japanese crafts.




The active promotion by local governments is also key to the formation of characteristic industrial tourism.

For example, Ube City, Mine City, and Sanyo-Onoda City, three adjacent cities in Yamaguchi Prefecture, reached a cooperation agreement and established the "Ube-Mine-Sanyo-Onoda Industrial Tourism Promotion Association" to jointly develop industrial tourism projects and operate industrial tourism bus tours themed on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Kiryu City, as the "Textile Capital," while developing its own textile industrial tourism, has strengthened its contacts with surrounding textile regions and cooperated with textile cities such as Ashikaga City to develop the "Northern Kanto Silk Road" brand, attracting a large number of tourists to visit.


A bus in Kiryu City with the mascot of the "Northern Kanto Silk Road" (Source: Open Network Platform)


3. Continuous Promotion by the National Industrial Tourism Promotion Conference

The National Industrial Tourism Promotion Conference has played a key role in the development of industrial tourism in Japan. Through the following seven aspects, the organization has provided comprehensive support for the development of industrial tourism:

Supporting regional talent cultivation: As of 2020, the Promotion Conference has held 19 "Industrial Tourism Workshop" support activities, going to 20 regions to provide training and support in areas such as organizational building, resource utilization, and talent cultivation.

Opening a B-end information website: A website called "Industrial Tourism Guide" is provided for industrial tourism organizers, showcasing advanced industrial tourism project examples and providing practical information and guidance.

Encouraging the construction of industrial tourism cities: Establishing an industrial tourism city construction award to commend and recognize tourism destinations with excellent design or commercialization, a total of 14 times, involving 60 regions.


Tokoname City, in order to develop industrial tourism, has created a pottery road that reflects the characteristics of the industry.


Industry-academia collaboration to promote exchanges: Holding the National Industrial Tourism Forum, inviting scholars and experts in the industry to discuss industrial tourism investment promotion and tourism theme design, this forum has been held for 19 consecutive years.

Establishing local management organizations: Helping 10 regions such as Kiryu City and Yanaka-Sanjo City establish local management organizations, build business models, and promote local economic revitalization.

Using the power of residents to shape tourism brands: Inspiring residents' awareness, guiding local residents to deeply explore the community's history and culture, and using community stories to shape industrial tourism brands, successfully helping about 80 regions become designated areas for modernization heritage stories.


Otaru City is one of the designated areas for modernization heritage stories.


Advocating for data disclosure and scientific decision-making: Requiring local government officials to open investigation data and make strategies based on data to improve the efficiency of problem-solving. For example, under this requirement, Komatsu City established a subsidy system for the renovation of tourist shops, making local stone processing shops more beautiful.

In addition, the National Industrial Tourism Promotion Conference actively promotes the international image of Japanese industrial tourism. For example, opening an account on the social platform Facebook to promote to overseas tourists; cooperating with overseas travel agencies and other organizations to promote tourist inflow, further expanding the influence of Japanese industrial tourism, etc.


Three Types of Industrial Tourism in Japan


According to the different content of the projects, industrial tourism in Japan can be divided into three types:

1. Landscape Type

Landscape-type projects use unique industrial landscapes to attract tourists to visit and check in. For example, Besshi Mine in Niihama City, which has been mined since the Meiji period, was once the world's largest copper mine in terms of production.

Many copper mine relics are preserved here, almost perfectly recreating the appearance of the "golden age" of Japan's first industrial development after the Meiji Restoration. The unique abandoned copper mine landscape attracts a large number of tourists, and Niihama City has used this to create a town tourism brand themed on copper landscapes.


Landscape-style Besshi Mine (Source: Open Network Platform)


Landscape-type projects can also be "under construction." For example, the Eighty-Ri-Yue Sightseeing Project in Sanjo City launched a sightseeing project during the national highway construction project, showcasing the power of civil engineering technology and the interaction between the natural environment and infrastructure during the construction process to provide tourists with a unique experience.


Sanjo City's Eighty-Ri-Yue Sightseeing Project, using construction itself as a tourism resource (Source: Niigata Prefecture Tourism Association)


2. Experiential

Experiential projects enhance the storytelling aspect of tourists' journeys through unique skills and knowledge. For example, the Kagura industry in Hamada City has always been a leading local handicraft, with local artisans skilled in creating lifelike "Japanese paper faces" (Washimen), gorgeous "Kagura costumes," and imposing "snake bodies" (Hebadou).

Hamada City has opened its Kagura mask and costume workshops for visits and experiences, allowing tourists to try their hand at making these traditional crafts.


Tourists can participate in Kagura costume making (Source: Shimane Prefecture Tourism Association)


The Kawasaki Heavy Industries corporate museum "Kawasaki World" in Kobe City is also a typical experiential project. The museum, themed on aviation, railways, and motorcycles, showcases the company's manufacturing capabilities and technological strength. Tourists can gain an in-depth understanding of the entire industrial manufacturing process through interactive exhibitions and simulated experiences.

3. Creative

Creative projects reinterpret industrial tourism from an innovative perspective, making it more attractive.

For example, a bar is located inside a waste treatment plant in Musashino City. The bar has a huge glass window overlooking a 23-meter-deep garbage pit. Tourists can enjoy drinks while watching the waste treatment process. The bar's drinks are made from fruit peels and other discarded food, and tourists can also visit the waste treatment plant to learn more about environmental protection technologies.


The Gomi Pit bar inside the waste treatment plant (Source: Open Network Platform)


During the restoration of the ancient Himeji Castle in Himeji City, an observation facility called "Sky Egret" was set up, combining industrial tourism with cultural heritage preservation.

Tourists can get a close-up view of the protection and restoration work of the World Heritage Himeji Castle and learn about the skills of the craftsmen and knowledge of ancient building restoration. After the completion of Himeji Castle's repair project in 2014, "Sky Egret" received over 1.84 million tourists, becoming a highlight of industrial tourism.

Having discussed the system establishment and classification of Japan's industrial tourism, let's move on to how Japanese cities implement industrial tourism development.


Three Development Strategies for Industrial Tourism Cities


In Japan, industrial tourism is not only a new engine for economic development but also an important vehicle for culture and education. Different cities have adopted different approaches to developing industrial tourism based on their own resources and characteristics, forming their own unique strategies. Overall, these strategies can be summarized into three categories: revitalizing traditional crafts, promoting urban transformation, and showcasing industrial strength.

1. Excavating traditional handicraft resources and revitalizing traditional crafts

Taking Nagoya City as an example, Nagoya City boasts abundant traditional handicraft resources, such as Nagoya paper fans, Nagoya Yuzen dyeing, Nagoya lanterns, and Shippo ware, and is ranked as the fifth largest producer of nationally designated traditional crafts in Japan.

However, with the changing times, the demand for traditional crafts has declined, and many companies producing traditional crafts have suffered deteriorating profits, leading to closures and bankruptcies, and traditional handicrafts have gradually become an unappealing "sunset industry."

In order to revitalize the city's traditional handicrafts, Nagoya City used industrial tourism as a starting point, formulating the "Nagoya City Tourism Strategy Leap Plan" and proposing the concept of "Artisanal Nagoya," combining the development of traditional handicrafts with the tourism of Nagoya's advanced manufacturing industry to enhance the city's appeal and transform Nagoya into a global tourism exchange hub.

The core of this tourism strategy includes two aspects:

Emphasis on the excavation, refinement, and creation of tourism content: seizing the shift in demand from "goods" consumption to "events" consumption, focusing on enriching the experiential tourism content of traditional handicraft experience areas such as Arimatsu and Meikai. Enriching the experience content of traditional industries through events such as the "Nagoya Craftsmen Exhibition."

Active marketing and promotion to increase the influence of Nagoya's traditional handicrafts: collaborating with various workshops to develop experiential content; inviting experts and scholars to give lectures, such as inviting Hideaki Kito, a lecturer at Chukyo University specializing in folklore and traditional arts, to serve as a historical and cultural commissioner to introduce Nagoya's traditional handicrafts; and conducting "Charming Saturdays" activities for elementary and junior high school students in the city, where students learn about traditional crafts in related courses on Saturdays.

Specific Implementation Case: Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori

Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori in Nagoya has a history of 400 years and is a traditional craft that uses various knotting techniques on cotton cloth to create various patterns through indigo dyeing.


Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori (Source: Open Network Platform)


The division of labor in the Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori industry is highly specialized, with no single workshop capable of completing all processes.

Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori have established a dedicated museum in the area—the "Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori Museum." In addition to showcasing the entire production process of Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori, it also features craftsman performances and experience classrooms. Local elementary schools in Arimatsu often include Shibori as a basic subject, bringing students here for experiential learning.


Craftsman performance at the Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori Museum (Source: Open Network Platform)


In conjunction with Nagoya's "Creation is Dialogue" (traditional handicraft exchange) project, Arimatsu and Meikai Shibori invited a group of young designers to participate in the innovation of Shibori craftsmanship. These designers have opened their own studios in Arimatsu-cho, the Shibori production cluster.

Gradually, Shibori technology has been applied to everyday items such as wallets, handbags, and handkerchiefs, making them more suitable as tourist souvenirs and enhancing the tourist shopping experience.

In addition, the Arimatsu Shibori Festival is held every year on the first Saturday of June in the Arimatsu area. This is a very influential festival in the Japanese and international shibori industries, attracting tourists from all over Japan every year.

Arimatsu-cho is the center of this series of events. The Shibori Festival is held among the quaint buildings. In 2016, Arimatsu-cho was selected as an "Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings," becoming a Nagoya industrial tourism landmark.


Arimatsu-cho, where the Arimatsu Shibori Festival is held (Source: Open Network Platform)


2. Transforming Modern Industrial Sites to Promote Urban Transformation

Take Kitakyushu City as an example. Located at the northernmost tip of Kyushu Island, Japan, Kitakyushu City belongs to Fukuoka Prefecture and is one of Japan's most important industrial cities.

During the heyday of Kitakyushu's steel industry, its output once accounted for half of Japan's total. However, this also led to severe environmental pollution in Kitakyushu City, with "seven-colored smoke" filling the sky, bay pollution, and even fish unable to survive, earning it the nickname "Sea of Death".

To make matters worse, with the transformation of Japan's traditional heavy industries, Kitakyushu's industries have become increasingly sluggish, existing companies have gradually moved away, and a large number of buildings have been abandoned, leading to a decline in population growth and economic development.


Yawata Steel in Kitakyushu (Source: Open Network Platform)


In order to promote urban transformation, the Kitakyushu City Government launched the "Kitakyushu City Revitalization Plan," aiming to build Kitakyushu City in the 21st century into a green industrial city centered on technology, environmental protection, and tourism industries. Kitakyushu City has sorted and integrated industrial heritage within the region, promoting a number of modern industrial heritage sites to be included in Japan's "Industrial Modernization Heritage List".

In 2010, the Kitakyushu City Labor Union proposed a plan to "revitalize the region using industrial tourism based on Kitakyushu's industrial characteristics," establishing "Industrial Tourism Promotion Offices" in multiple cities. In 2014, the Kitakyushu City Government, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Tourism Association jointly established the Kitakyushu Industrial Tourism Center (KITC), providing a one-stop industrial tourism service window.


The revitalized center of Kitakyushu City


Regarding tourism development of modern industrial heritage, Kitakyushu City has taken the following approaches:

Securing ownership of abandoned industrial buildings and carrying out renovations: A number of abandoned modern industrial buildings in Kitakyushu City have been registered as national cultural heritage sites, such as the former Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha Wakamatsu Branch and the former Moji Customs House. The Kitakyushu City Government has successively reached property transfer agreements with the original companies and invested in renovations and reconstruction to create nostalgic leisure tourism areas, becoming important tourism destinations for domestic and international tourists.

For example, the Moji branch of Mitsui Bussan Kaisha was the tallest office building in Kyushu during the Taisho period. In 2005, Kitakyushu City obtained ownership and transformed it into a venue combining a concert hall, art museum, and archive.


The renovated former Moji Customs House


Integrating industrial heritage into commercial spaces: In order to reduce the burden on local finances, the Kitakyushu City Government has consciously transformed some industrial heritage sites into cafes, restaurants, and specialty shops. For example, the former Moji Customs House in Kitakyushu City, in addition to exhibition spaces introducing the history of the customs house, also has a retro cafe, a visitor rest area, a gallery, and an observation deck.


In the transformation of industrial heritage around the former Moji Customs House, commercial and cultural functions have been particularly strengthened.


Re-employment of industrial "seniors": With the development of industrial heritage tourism, tourists are no longer limited to visiting industrial heritage sites; they are also very interested in visiting the lives of workers in the past industrial era.

To this end, the Kitakyushu City Government has hired more than 80 local elderly people as tour guides. They have a deep memory of Kitakyushu's industrial era and tell tourists about the history of the factories and the city.

Creating factory sightseeing themed tourism: Kitakyushu City, centered on Mojiko Port, has planned and constructed the industrial tourism area "Mojiko Retro," strictly designing the streets, inns, and hotels in this area in the style of the modern Taisho period. This area has been selected as one of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's Top 100 Urban Landscapes and has won the Civil Engineering Society's Excellence Design Award.




Kitakyushu City has also created many spectacular factory night views, ranking first among Japan's "New Three Major Night View Cities".
To meet the needs of industrial fans, Kitakyushu City has launched factory night view sightseeing tours with local travel agencies, allowing tourists to tour industrial heritage sites and ironworks at night.

Kitakyushu City also uses its city night views as filming locations for film and animation. While some successful works are being disseminated at home and abroad, they have also successfully driven the commercial and tourism development of the filming locations, attracting loyal fans to come for "sacred site pilgrimages"*.

Sacred site pilgrimage: Refers to fans of comics or animation visiting the real-world locations that served as prototypes for scenes in their favorite works.

Industrial heritage themed study tours: As a model of successful transformation of a Japanese heavy industrial city, the Kitakyushu City Government has created several environmental protection study tour programs.

For example, the buildings and facilities of the Yawata Ironworks are integrated with nearby science and technology study tour venues such as the "Kitakyushu Industrial Technology Preservation and Inheritance Center," the "Environmental Museum," and the "Journey of Life Nature Museum," strengthening environmental education for the public and students while increasing the number of industrial heritage sightseeing visitors.


Study tours at the Water Treatment Museum


From 2015 to 2019, Kitakyushu City received an average of 24.77 million domestic tourists and 510,000 international tourists per year. The Kitakyushu Industrial Tourism Center won the gold award for the "Industrial Tourism City Award," and was selected by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as Asia's first green growth model city.

3. Showcasing Industrial Strength

Take Kawasaki City as an example. Located in Tokyo Bay, Kawasaki City is a representative of Japan's innovative industrial cities, a manufacturing hub, and also has new industrial creation bases such as Kanagawa Science Park, Kawasaki New Industry Creation Center, and Technology Innovation Kawasaki.

Kawasaki City has attracted 177 research and development centers of well-known companies and 24 universities and other research institutions. The city has research institutes of multinational companies such as Hitachi, Canon, Toshiba, Fujitsu, NEC, and Ajinomoto, as well as universities and government research institutes such as Keio University, Meiji University, and the Industrial Medical Research Institute.

In order to showcase the city's strength and advanced concepts, Kawasaki City strongly supports modern factory tours.

The Kawasaki government has promulgated the "Kawasaki Tourism Promotion Plan," highlighting that Kawasaki's industrial tourism brand is based on sightseeing experiences in manufacturing industries, environmental technologies, and advanced research facilities, enriching tourism content by utilizing newly added industrial tourism facilities and developing educational tours. Kawasaki industrial tourism is divided into four themes:

▍Kawasaki Manufacturing: Leading the World

Kawasaki City concentrates many large manufacturing plants, playing an important role in the division of labor system of the Keihin Industrial Belt. In Ota Ward alone, there are 4778 industrial companies engaged in precision processing.
Taking the JFE Steel East Japan Plant (high-performance steel plates) as an example, the plant regularly opens for tours. Visitors can carefully observe facilities such as raw material berths, blast furnaces, and shipping berths. The plant designs the tour route according to the production sequence from receiving raw materials to finished product transportation, allowing visitors to carefully observe the advanced equipment and efficient production process.

▍Kawasaki Food: Upholding Safety Standards

Representative companies in the food industry are concentrated in Kawasaki. The Kawasaki City government effectively supervises and guides food operators, disseminating food hygiene knowledge and achieving a city-wide consensus on food safety.
Taking Ajinomoto's Kawasaki plant as an example, this "centenary store," one of the world's top ten food companies, allows visitors to see the entire product manufacturing process, such as safe raw materials, manufacturing processes, and quality management. Visitors can also make their own mini bottle of Ajinomoto at the factory.

▍Kawasaki Technology: Creating a Better Life

Kawasaki City is known for its advanced research and development, with the proportion of R&D personnel accounting for 13.55%, ranking first in Japan. The gross production value of Kawasaki City's high-tech industries has consistently ranked among the top in major Japanese cities, undoubtedly showcasing its technological strength and serving as excellent promotion for attracting businesses. For example, the Kawasaki Toshiba Science Museum showcases technology under the theme of "Human Contact with Science."


Kawasaki Toshiba Science Museum (Source: Open Network Platform)


The museum showcases Toshiba's products from its early days to the most cutting-edge quantum cryptography communication devices and social service technologies such as high-speed elevators. Using technologies like RFID (radio-frequency identification), it offers a glimpse into future high-tech life and precision medical technology, while also explaining scientific principles to visitors.

▍Kawasaki Environmental Protection: Implementing Advanced Concepts

Kawasaki City has released the "Issues and Prospects of Industrial Structure," advocating for industrial upgrading and harmonious development of the urban environment. The construction of a zero-emission industrial park has achieved on-site digestion and treatment of pollutants and waste, turning waste into treasure. Taking the Kawasaki Eco-Life Future Museum as an example, the museum has environmental practice learning facilities with three major themes: global warming, renewable energy, and resource recycling.

Unlike ordinary exhibition halls, visitors can visit environmental facilities on-site at the Future Museum. The exhibition hall provides direct access to the floating island solar power plant, part of Kawasaki City's basic plan for promoting countermeasures against global warming. The waste treatment plant on the floating island will showcase the waste treatment process.


Floating Island Solar Power Plant connected to the Kawasaki Eco-Life Future Museum (Source: Open Network Platform)


Three Key Takeaways from Japan's Industrial Tourism


Under the influence of the "National Industrial Tourism Development Outline (2016-2025)", various prefectures and cities have accelerated the promotion of industrial tourism. Compared to China, where industrial tourism is just starting, three key takeaways can be learned from Japan's industrial tourism:

1. Respecting Market Laws, Allowing Tourists to "Consume for Experience"

After nearly 20 years of development, Japan's industrial tourism has gradually embarked on a healthy development path led by the market. The market has proven that tourists are more willing to have in-depth experiences, while industrial tourism projects that solely pursue economic benefits and primarily aim to increase ticket prices or sales are difficult to sustain.

For example, many industrial tourism projects in Japan focus on interactive experiences for tourists, allowing them to not only learn knowledge during their visit but also personally experience various aspects of industrial production. This in-depth experience significantly improves tourist satisfaction and reputation.


Sapporo's Shiroikoibito Chocolate Factory focuses on experiential consumption.


2. Building Internationally Competitive Industrial Tourism Brands

In the age of brand competition, the brand awareness and influence of industrial tourism are the core support for its development and growth. For example, through careful brand building and marketing, Kyushu, Japan, has attracted a large number of domestic and international tourists to its industrial tourism, making it a shining example of Japanese industrial tourism.


Kitakyushu industrial tourism also links its historical and cultural resources.


3. Linking Industrial Tourism with Other Tourism Resources

Local governments in Japan pay great attention to integrating industrial tourism into other tourism projects, avoiding the "monotony" and non-repeatability of industrial tourism while compensating for the "lack of knowledge" in other tourism projects.

For example, Kawasaki City combines industrial tourism with environmental education and industry to create multiple comprehensive tourism projects. At the same time, Japan emphasizes the role of relevant industry associations in publicity and promotion, using the strength of industry associations to promote industrial tourism projects to a wider market.

In short, industrial tourism is not only a new engine for economic development but also an important vehicle for culture and education. By learning from Japan's successful experiences and combining them with their own actual situations, various regions in China can explore suitable industrial tourism development models to contribute to achieving economic structural transformation, upgrading, and sustainable development.


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